1		Managing the Brand 'Korea' The Chosun Ilbo, A31 - Opinion November 16, 2004 (Tue)   [Economy Focus] Managing the Brand 'Korea' Reputation of products made in Korea is getting better in the world with their high quality and the nation is being widely known to the world through various international events and cooperation activities with other countries. However, according to the recent Country Brand Value announced by the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies, Korea ranked lower than before and the reason analyzed is because Korea's relationship with near countries is somewhat weak. We need to build up our image strategically to strengthen relationship with other countries.   Economic Effect of a Nation's Image We need to elaborate and promote our image to the international society. An era, which the supplier provides products, services and functions, is over. This is an era that the consumer selects products and services. Consumers of the brand 'Korea' are foreigners. Therefore, we need to study their standpoints and also need to create a differentiated image with other countries. Korean Kimchi, Bibim-bap and pear which was called the 'king of fruits' by a pop star Michael Jackson, are often mentioned to indicate the culture popularity of our country. However, Korean Kimchi is well known as Japanese Kimuchi to foreigners and there is no superior agricultural improvement in Korea to be proud of. We consider our country as the strong IT country, but in fact, companies that provides basic products for infra of the existing IT industry are almost from the United States or Japan. Superiority of our cultural heritages decreases when compared to the heritages exhibited in The British Museum and in The Louvre Museum in France. Ultimately, we need to promote the brand 'Korea' through creative ways such as strategic selection or selective concentration, other than the comprehensive way. It is a good example that New Zealand promoted their tourist industry through building their national image as 'the nation with pure and mysterious nature' by the movie 'The Lord of the Ring' series to discard their old rustic image. Royal family of the United Kingdom and the Emperor system of Japan altered the past negative image of the royal regimes to positive image of luxury and mystery. The reason why the image of the nation is important is because it provides halo effect to companies that compete in international economic lines. The purpose of management of the national brand should be focused on the commercialization to acquire economic value added industry beyond promoting abstract values such as fame, dignity and pride. The image of our country Korea, will be improved a lot if the image of the nation brand is managed strategically with selection and concentration with the fostered global mind of the people, in addition to competitiveness improvement of each company and international community activity lead by our government.    Correcting distorted and misinterpreted image   Koreans are blessed people. There are more than 70 million people living in this small territory but there are many elements to build up our image better including beautiful nature, superior culture heritages and the character of the homogeneous nation. With building our image, we need to correct our distorted image constantly. According to the Center for Information on Korean Culture, incorrect information related to Korea is recorded in about 50 textbooks from other countries among the total 116 textbooks in the United States, China, and etc. Moreover, in the history textbook published in 2002 for 11th grade students, by the famous education publisher Prentice Hall, it is said that Korea surrendered to the allied forces in 1945 and the south of the 38th parallel was liberated by the U.S. Armed Forces when the war was about to be ended. It is our duty to correct the history rather than just to feel angry. We need to learn from the Jews how to correct the incorrect understandings through various ways such as arts and culture.